HARARE - MANY Zimbabweans boycotted their one candidate-election, but witnesses and monitors said government militias forced people to vote for 84-year-old President Robert Mugabe in some areas.
The vote on Friday, held despite a storm of condemnation from inside and outside Africa, was denounced as a sham by Western powers and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mr Tsvangirai, who won the first round on March 29, pulled out of the poll a week ago and took refuge in the Dutch embassy because of state-backed violence he said had killed almost 90 of his supporters.
He told a news conference millions of people were staying away from the polls despite intimidation.
'What is happening today is not an election. It is an exercise in mass intimidation with people all over the country being forced to vote,' Mr Tsvangirai said.
A witness in Chitungwiza town, south of Harare, said voters were forced to hand the serial number of their ballot paper and their identity details to an official from Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF party so he could see how they voted.
The Zimbabwe Crisis Coalition rights group said village heads had 'assisted' teachers to vote in some rural areas after forcing them to declare they were illiterate.
Turnout was low in urban areas where Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is traditionally strong. But it was not clear how many voters went to the polls in rural districts that are difficult for independent journalists to visit.
State television denounced foreign media reports of low turnout. It showed long queues in rural and semi-rural constituencies and said voters ignored appeals to abstain.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a monitoring group, said its observers reported that traditional leaders forced people to vote in most rural areas. It said the poll would not reflect the will of the people.
ZESN also reported militias and traditional leaders were noting the names of voters and asking for the serial numbers of their ballot papers as they left polling stations.
ZESN said before the vote it could not deploy properly because of intimidation of its monitors.
Mr Tsvangirai had urged people to abstain but said they should vote if they were in danger.
Turnout was much lower in many areas than in parliamentary and presidential elections in March, when people queued from the early hours. Mr Tsvangirai won that poll but fell short of the majority needed for outright victory. -- REUTERS
